Five Minutes with Albion Nord

5th May 2020

Established in 2017, Albion Nord is an interior design and project management studio based in Bloomsbury, London. With a young, yet highly experienced team, Albion Nord is run by four friends, including Ottalie Stride and Camilla (Milly) Clarke.
We talk to Ottalie and Milly about their passion for carefully considered, timeless interiors. Created using a combination of beautifully rich materials, handcrafted bespoke pieces and the most exquisite art and antiques.

Albion NordWe set up Albion Nord with Ben Johnson & Anthony Kooperman in 2017. We’d all worked together for a number of years at our previous company and an opportunity arose where we spotted a gap in the market and decided to take the leap of faith to set up on our own. Needless to say, we haven’t looked back.

ProjectsThe lion’s share of our projects are in Central London but we have a beautiful Georgian country estate near Newbury with a separate spa facility and guest cottages as well as some wonderful overseas projects too.

Signature lookWe aim to always create paired-back, timeless and luxurious homes with an emphasis on the use of antiques, natural materials and great, punchy artwork. The designs are always born from the features or history of the property meaning that every project has a unique sense of place.

What inspired you to become an interior designer
Ottalie: My parents initially, they’re fantastically creative and modest in equal measure and have done lovely things to our family house over the years which passed through to me by osmosis. I also worked with Max Rollitt when I was 22 and that sealed the deal for me.

Milly: There were definitely signs from my childhood as I was always on the creative side. It was my love of art and drawing that eventually led my eye to interior design. After studying at the Inchbald School of Design I dived right in.

Advice for aspiring interior designersHome seems more important than ever before, and despite the current circumstances this is also a very valuable time. Let’s use this time to learn more, educate ourselves, read books, paint, use our creativity and create new goals.

New project inspirationThe house, its location and its owner.
Inspiration for a room design for us often centre’s around art and antiques, both have the power to be the epicentre of any design.

Favourite room to designA Sitting Room. We love to design a sitting room that walks the line between entertaining space and a place that feels comfortable and usable for the whole family. It’s such a waste for the best room in the house to be used once a year.

Favourite room in your own home
Milly: I’m currently based in the Cotswolds. The Garden Studio is my favourite room at the moment as it has provided the perfect working space. It looks out onto the garden and is wonderfully light and airy as well as out of the house!

Ottalie: My Sitting Room & Kitchen. Living in a Georgian Townhouse means fantastic ceiling heights and great windows which overlook Peckham Rye. The Sitting Room & Kitchen are separated by huge bi-folding doors that are kept open to feel like one. I’ve filled it with colourful items collected over time to make it feel jolly and homely.

Favourite item in your own home
Ottalie: I inherited some lovely pieces from my Grandmother, my favourite would be either her brass Drinks Trolley or a Jacobean style blanket box.

Home comfortsFilling a room with huge greenery arrangements or plants. It will enliven any space.

While away the hoursOttalie: I’ve been busy potato printing! We are working on a new fabric collection and this has been very useful!

Milly: I’m currently working on a bespoke embroidery from Tapisserie in South Kensington, very therapeutic and also time consuming!

Upcoming projectsWe have some amazing projects coming up this year which we can’t wait to share with you and also have a very exiting collaboration with Collier Webb to be revealed, stay tuned!

How did you come to work with Collier Webb?Collier Webb have always been our go-to supplier because of their wonderful craftsmanship and high quality of work which is all made here in the UK, very close to Ottalie’s family home in Sussex.

We love to support British craftsmen, there is so much talent in the UK, crafts people using traditional techniques that have been valued over hundreds of years. Using British craftsmen brings such a high level of quality and care as well as a sense of heritage to a piece and will stand the test of time.

Bespoke pieces and their importance to you and your clientsThe goal is to create a home that is personal to the client and antiques or one-off pieces really help achieve that aesthetic and make a home different and exciting. We are currently working on a large Georgian house in the country with very large-scale rooms and so we have made sure that all of the furniture is made that much bigger to avoid it getting lost in the space.